Happy to be back

I am officially back from hiatus and more ready than ever to dish.

A lot of changes have happened in my life recently and I can honestly say I have never been happier, which I figured would curb my creativity but it has done the opposite.  I am thrilled to share that I recently left my corporate job of almost ten years, which I despised and was sucking the heat out my veins with every passing day, in pursuit of a dream, which for now, is top secret.

I frequently have trouble falling asleep thinking about the possibilities.  I have never before felt such optimism, though I am still a fan of rain.

I am increasingly thankful every single day for this opportunity and I know that the one soul in the world who believes in me 100%, my hubby, has high expectations so I am making good use of my time toward making it happen.  

In the meantime, though, I am going to be posting more recipes and dining experiences and I am gonna share some of my attempts at being housewifey and maybe some crafts too.  I say attempts because I have never been super productive in crafting, despite having lots of ideas.  But now that I have a little more time on my hands, I will bring you along on my misadventures in that aspect of my life as well. I have changed the title, layout and categorizations within my blog to better reflect that.

This song is on heavy rotation in my head.

Kitchen remodel update

Our remodel is still in the works.  It has taken quite a bit longer than we anticipated, but the fact that it was a 100% DIY project has made the wait tolerable and the results that much more satisfying.  We’re still working on some detail pieces including some trim under the cabinets over the sink, adding under cabinet lighting, updating the light fixture, we still have to install new flooring and update the fridge.  The kitchen is totally usable now, though, so this weekend I had some fun baking bread and took photos to share our progress.  Click here to see what we started with. 

Our tile came in 12×12 sheets, but some of the individual tiles were not all adhered straight, so we had to lay each of them by hand.

We removed the shutter doors from the pantry and made a new back wall and new shelves.

New sink, updated cabinets, new knobs and pulls, new toaster, and new microwave. The cabinet to the right of the stove has magnetic paint. The black cabinet was painted with magnetic and chalkboard paint.

We installed hooks to hang pots, which freed up a lot of storage space in the cabinets.

We wanted to do butcher block on the countertops, but it proved to be a little beyond our abilities at the moment, so we installed formica. We will try again to install butcher block in a few years.

More updates will be shared as they become available.  We work on the kitchen a few evenings per week and a few hours every weekend, so it has been slow going.  I’m super excited to get it all done.

Girl Power!

Saw this tile at a local taco shop.  Had to share.

Currently Cooking to: Michael Jackson – P.Y.T

I’m gonna be baking some fresh bread this weekend.  Time to party in the kitchen!  Nothing gets a party started like some MJ!  Happy Friday, everyone!

Time warp!

We’re finally doing a small remodel to my time warp of a kitchen.  We’re about 80% finished and will be ready for the big reveal very soon, but here’s a peek at the before photos:

This was taken as the cabinets were being cleared out, hence all the pantry items on the counter.  As you can see, the kitchen was very dark, there was no hardware on the cabinets and the countertop was this horrid, chipped, off-white tile with grout that was black, no matter what was used to clean it or how long it soaked.  The stainless steel sink to the far right was connected to a garbage disposal which had seized over two years ago when our drain was clogged and my hubby poured HCL down it.  Silly move.

Every few blank tiles, there was a mushroom.

The pantry used be floor to ceiling, had a dummy wall of flimsy wood paneling that you could press on and it would swing freely until it hit the stud behind it, all the shelves were mismatched and only some of the panels had random 70’s wallpaper, the shelves were also not level and – get this – shutters!

We are waiting for the weekend to arrive so we can install our backsplash and we will be ready for the reveal after that.  Stay tuned!

Gospel singer praises fried chicken through song

A girl after my own heart.

Currently Cooking to: Grimes

Currently Cooking to: Black Keys

A night in with my hubby

Currently Cooking to: Annie (Not the adorably optimistic redheaded orphan)